Chapter 32
“Are you ready?” Lev asked Reyna.
She took a deep breath and nodded as she kept her hands on the wheel of the boat.
For the past two days, they had gone over their plan again and again. Lev had told her about the secret entrance into the docks and how she could get out if things got tricky—because things were certainly going to get very hairy.
Reyna had wanted to pass on their plan to the Loughmans, but Lev refused. While he trusted Callie that the phones were encrypted, things still happened. He didn’t want to get this close and have everything go sideways just because the Saints happened to hear something during their phone call.
“We’ll get a slight advantage,” Lev continued. “But it won’t be long until the Saints know we’re there.”
“And they call in reinforcements.”
He kept his gaze on the water. They had turned the boat’s lights off. Since Reyna was better at driving the vessel, he’d let her have the helm, directing her when and where to turn.
“We could easily slip out,” Reyna said.
Lev glanced her way. “I’ve thought about that option often. With all of your knowledge about the Saints, I think you should do exactly that.”
Her head snapped to him. “Don’t.”
“Think about it, Reyna.”
“I am. I’m also thinking about you.”
Lev shook his head. “I knew what I had to do the minute I learned about Sergei’s death.”
“And you’re playing right into their hands. This is what they want you to do. To go barreling in, guns blazing so they can take you down.”
“They won’t catch me.”
She snorted loudly and focused on their path through the water. “You’re full of shit.”
“Sergei needs to be avenged.”
“I agree,” she stated, anger lacing every syllable. “Getting yourself captured or killed isn’t the way to do it. You want to hurt them, then you have to stay alive.”
Lev put a hand to his lips as he looked at her. It was the signal for her to turn off the engine and let the boat coast with the current.
They remained silent, passing huge cargo ships, workers on the docks, and even other boats without being seen. Reyna had to maneuver quickly to avoid hitting a vessel coming at them, but she did it with ease and finesse.
He gave her a thumbs up and a smile to let her know he was impressed. The woman constantly amazed him. She was cool under pressure, calm when everything went crazy, and a force when she needed to be.
Lev held his breath when they came to the turn-in. He motioned with his hand, and Reyna immediately turned the wheel, steering the boat into the narrow channel.
His hand fisted at his side when he saw the other boat docked. It was a small one, but it would still make it difficult for them to pass. Reyna saw it too and put their vessel as far to the side as she could without running into the dock.
No matter her skill, the area was too narrow for two boats.
And when they reached the other vessel, theirs scraped against it.
The sound was loud to his ears, and it caused them to lose a lot of momentum.
Lev looked around, waiting to see someone come running, or even a body come out of the tied craft. But there was no one.
In order to keep moving, he had to push against the dock. There was more scraping, and even their hull bumping against the dock. But, finally, they got through.
Lev palmed a pistol. One of the rifles was already slung across his body. The other leaned near Reyna, waiting for her to grab it.
Lev motioned for Reyna to move the boat to the right in between two lights so they would be in shadow.
There was a small alcove that appeared to dead-end.
Lev kept his gaze on the area as she pulled up alongside the dock.
He jumped out and grabbed one of the lines to hold the boat as Reyna gathered her guns.
Once she was beside him, he handed her his gun as he tied off the boat. He turned back to her and took his weapon.
“Why are you staring at me?” she whispered.
“Because I love you. Because you’ve made my life better.”
She smiled and touched his face. “I love you, too. Your words were moving, but I’m still not leaving without you.”
He sighed and glanced at the ground. “Sergei wanted me to take over upon his death. I need to do that.”
“Since you knew how to get us to the port without being seen, I’m guessing you know how to get to Sergei’s building without being seen, as well.”
Lev nodded. “I do.”
“That’s what I thought. Let’s go there and take care of that business. Then we can find Cullen and the others and leave.”
“Without killing any Saints?”
She dropped her hand to his chest. “Honey, I want them dead as much, if not more, than you. But we have to be smart. There are few of us fighting against them. If we go up against them now when their numbers exceed ours and they’re waiting for us, then we’ve already lost. You’re too cunning to make such a mistake. ”
Damn. She was right, and he hated it.
“It’s a good opportunity to take some of them out,” he argued.
She dropped her hand to her side. “I don’t want to win a skirmish. I want to win the war. And it’s going to take all of us.”
“I can’t run Sergei’s business from Texas.”
“Yes, you can.”
He shook his head. “No, I really can’t. The moment the Saints realize I’m gone, they’ll destroy every one of my men as well as the building. I have to stay.”
“Then I’ll stay with you.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
She laughed as she took a step closer and rose up on her tiptoes to place her lips against his for a quick kiss. “That’s the life I’ve led for many years. The only difference now is that I’ll be doing it with the man I love.”
“You know too much about the Saints,” he argued, hoping that he could convince her to go to Texas. It wasn’t that he wanted her gone. It was about keeping her safe and alive.
“And from what I’ve learned about Callie, she can do wondrous things with the information I can share. I go where you go. And that’s final.”
Lev turned his head and looked out over the docks. The workers there were loyal to their union. They fought to have their jobs and everything that went with it.
“What are you thinking?” Reyna asked.
He grinned at her as he realized the answer had been right in front of him the entire time. “I’m thinking if we’re going to stay, then we need to show the Saints who owns the docks.”
“They’ll have people there. Dock workers who give them information.”
“Yeah, but they won’t have Tommy.”
She quirked a brow. “Who?”
“I need you to go find Mia like we planned.”
“And where are you going?” Reyna demanded.
He smoothed back a strand of hair that had flown into her face. “I’m going to get an army. Once you’re with Mia, alert the others that something big is coming.”
“Where do you want us?”
“Sergei’s office.”
She touched his cheek. “Be careful.”
“You, too.”
Lev waited until she was out of sight before he made his way toward Tommy Sullivan’s office.
He and Sergei had once been enemies, but when the dock workers had fought for better union wages, Sergei had joined them.
Their feud had shifted to an uneasy truce.
Not long after Tommy had gone to Sergei for help with someone stealing from the docks, Sergei had found the culprit and turned them over to Tommy so he could alert the police.
After that, their friendship continued to develop over the years until they were as thick as thieves. If anyone were going to help Lev, it would be Tommy.
Lev stayed out of sight, keeping to the shadows and noting the men not doing a good job of hiding as they hunted him.
He slipped into the office and immediately found four guns pointed at his face. Lev held up his hands, letting his gun dangle on a finger as he stared into the faces of two of Tommy’s guards.
“I need to see Tommy,” he told them.
The big one on the left snorted as he finished chewing a bite of his meatball sandwich.
The one on the right shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
“It is if you want to get the men who have taken over your docks this past week.”
Tommy’s disembodied voice came out of a room at the back. “Bring him!”
The guns were lowered, and the two men escorted Lev to Tommy.
Lev tucked his pistol into the waistband of his pants and walked into the small office.
Tommy had an ego, but it didn’t equate to a big office with a nice view of the docks.
His main concern was the workers and how he could get them more as the union president.
Unlike his guards, Tommy was as thin as a reed. Age spots covered his face and bald head. He steepled his gnarled fingers and eyed Lev as he leaned back in his chair behind the desk.
“I wondered when I’d be seeing you,” Tommy said. “We missed you at the funeral.”
“I wasn’t in the country,” Lev explained.
Tommy shrugged. “You should’ve gotten back.”
“I just did. It was Sergei who sent me to Kiev on a matter that he felt we had no choice but to be involved in.”
Tommy sat forward, his face lined with worry. “Was this about the Saints?”
Lev’s knees nearly buckled he was so glad that he didn’t have to try and convince the man. “You know about them?”
“Sergei told me all about them after he returned from Texas. I didn’t believe him at first, but it didn’t take much digging to learn that he told me the truth.” Tommy motioned for Lev to take a seat.
Lev lowered himself into the chair. “They’re the ones who killed Sergei because I went to Kiev.
I encountered another American who had been working with them for the last five years, spying on them after they killed her partner.
The Saints came after both of us. We traveled across Poland, Sweden, and Norway before we got on a boat and came here. ”
“Damn,” one of the guards said behind Lev.
Tommy rested his arms on the desk. “I had no alert that you’d arrived at the docks.”
Lev shrugged. “I have my ways, and I had to keep hidden because the Saints are looking for me. I counted ten of them on my way here.”
Anger contorted Tommy’s features. “Where?”
“Wait,” Lev cautioned. “If Sergei told you about this group, then you know they infiltrate everything. There are no doubt Saints in your union. If you call up any men now, you’ll alert the Saints that you know about them.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Lev smiled. “Get ahold of your strongest and most loyal and have them come here. Can you call a meeting with the union members?”
“Yes. Why?” Tommy asked, frowning.
“If we get them all in one room, then we might be able to sort out who is a Saint and who isn’t.”
Tommy rubbed his hand along his jaw. “Do we have time for that?”
“No, but we need your men.”
Tommy jerked his chin to the guards, who quickly walked from the room.
“They’ll get the word out that I’ve called an impromptu meeting to take place in an hour.
I’ve done it before so it won’t raise any suspicions.
As for the other request, there are eight men I know I can trust without a doubt.
I’ll call them now. Two are already working. ”
“Get them here and armed. And I need a map of the docks so I can show you where I’ve spotted the Saints.”